Flash for Android 3.0 to arrive a “few weeks” after first tablets

Adobe says that its Flash player plug-in will be ready for Android 3. Xoom.

Motorola's much-anticipated Xoom tablet, which is expected to launch this week, will be among the first devices to ship with Android 3.0, codenamed Honeycomb. Motorola has recently confirmed that the Xoom will not ship with Adobe's Flash browser plug-in—the company says that support for Flash will be available through a software update at some point in the spring.

Adobe has responded by clarifying the status of Flash Player 10.2, the version of Flash that will be compatible with upcoming Android tablets. Adobe aims to have Flash 10.2 ready "within a few weeks" after Android 3.0 devices begin to reach consumers, at which point it will be available for over-the-air installation on Android 3.0 tablets.

"Adobe will offer Flash Player 10.2 preinstalled on some tablets and as an OTA download on others within a few weeks of Android 3 (Honeycomb) devices becoming available, the first of which is expected to be the Motorola Xoom," wrote Adobe's Matt Rozen. "We are excited about the progress we’ve made optimizing Flash for tablets, alongside partners including Motorola, and expect our momentum to continue."

The implication is that Xoom purchasers won't get Flash right out of the box, but probably won't have to wait long to get the feature. Given that the Xoom starts shipping this week, Adobe's timeline of "a few weeks" could mean that Flash will become available for the Xoom as early as the end of March.

Adobe first brought the full version of the Flash player to the Android platform last year with the release of Flash 10.1 for Android 2.2. Our tests on the Nexus One demonstrated the viability of Flash on handheld devices, challenging Apple's rejection of the plug-in on its own iOS platform. Native support for Flash could potentially be a competitive advantage for Android-based tablets that hope to compete with Apple's iPad.

Adobe says that over 50 different tablet models from various vendors will ship with Flash in 2011. The company predicts that over 132 million devices will have the Flash player installed by the end of 2011.

113 Reader Comments

I think it's weak that iOS doesn't support Flash. That said, I'm having trouble believing that Flash on Android tablets isn't going to suck. Helpful for video maybe, but other than that it seems like a bag of hurt waiting to happen.

I think it is orchestrated on purpose. Imagen if Flash sucks, again. What it would do to these devices when the initial reviews come out. Since 2007 Apple has disallowed Flash on the iOS devices, but now we are expected to believe that Adobe got it right this time? I hope, for there sake.

I think it's weak that iOS doesn't support Flash. That said, I'm having trouble believing that Flash on Android tablets isn't going to suck. Helpful for video maybe, but other than that it seems like a bag of hurt waiting to happen.

I don't know.. I have it on my nexus and on a galaxy tab. When I need to view Flash the option's there and it works well (browser set up to only show flash on demand). As an iPad owner too it's a PITA when I sometimes stumble across a page that has a Flash video and no iPad alternative. It really does make you think that you're not getting the full web experience. The "bag of hurt" reference (get well soon SJ) is just not worth repeating, and being able to choose to access that "bag of hurt" is still better than a bag of nothingness.

I think it is orchestrated on purpose. Imagen if Flash sucks, again. What it would do to these devices when the initial reviews come out. Since 2007 Apple has disallowed Flash on the iOS devices, but now we are expected to believe that Adobe got it right this time? I hope, for there sake.

I'm not one for conspiracies, but I think it's very likely that it's not being shipped with Flash expressly because of reviews. The unknown is is if this is truly because they missed the deadline (meaning the version that comes out after the initial reviews are posted will be stable and perform well) or because it's a clusterf* and they want to lay low until the initial flurry of reviews gets out.

I remember Flash and its effect on battery life, browser performance, and scrolling being a pretty big part of launch reviews in previous generations of Android devices.

I would encourage everyone on Macs and PCs to get the latest 10.2 version of Flash Player, on video sites that enable 'stage video' the difference is incredible, I have been watching 1080p video and only 5% cpu usage, honestly it is smoother and less processor intensive than any html5 video I have seen.

(Most YouTube and Vimeo videos are already enabled to use stage video now, with the rest being updated shortly)

It is great news this is coming to tablets, specifically utilising the Tegra2 chipset, I have a feeling it will be extremely good if the desktop experience is anything to go by...

I'm not one for conspiracies, but I think it's very likely that it's not being shipped with Flash expressly because of reviews.

Interesting after years of telling us that Flash is ready for mobile devices, Adobe misses installation on an important Motorola product (a vendor with whom they have really attached their reputation) by mere weeks. Who was the program manager in charge of this delivery schedule? Or, as pointed out, is the delay intentional to avoid bad initial reviews?

Also, the Xoom will be a shipping product that can't even view its own web site.

I think it is orchestrated on purpose. Imagen if Flash sucks, again. What it would do to these devices when the initial reviews come out. Since 2007 Apple has disallowed Flash on the iOS devices, but now we are expected to believe that Adobe got it right this time? I hope, for there sake.

I'm not one for conspiracies, but I think it's very likely that it's not being shipped with Flash expressly because of reviews. The unknown is is if this is truly because they missed the deadline (meaning the version that comes out after the initial reviews are posted will be stable and perform well) or because it's a clusterf* and they want to lay low until the initial flurry of reviews gets out.

I remember Flash and its effect on battery life, browser performance, and scrolling being a pretty big part of launch reviews in previous generations of Android devices.

No, they have to get the GPU acceleration working on the Tegra2 chipsets that these tablets are using, they only released 10.2 a week or two back for the desktop, so this delay is surprisingly short.

Flash Player 10.1 runs extremely well on my Desire HD phone, and it has much less processing power than these tablets, it would be stupid to assume it wouldn't run even better...

This is great news for Moto and Google -- it means all the initial reviews won't have sentences to the effect of "Sure, the Xoom supports Flash, but the poor performance and negative battery impact make it nearly pointless for everyday use."

I agree with loire280. I suspect it's being delayed so reviews can't talk about how much life Flash sucks out of the battery. It will probably be a successful diversion, because the people who are emotionally invested in believing in Flash on Android tablets (aka the Apple haters) will point to the reviews instead of what battery life is actually like with Flash enabled. And those are going to be the people buying the Xoom anyway.

Nothing I've ever read has made it sound like Flash is even pleasant on anything.

And amazing to develop. You can do the same things in Flash in a day that take you a week with any Ajax solution. If you can do it at all. For developers Ajax is a bag of hurt. Which is not bad because web applications are a dangerous idea anyway. Its nice that the problems of DHTML mostly limit them to slightly more interactive forms.

And amazing to develop. You can do the same things in Flash in a day that take you a week with any Ajax solution. If you can do it at all. For developers Ajax is a bag of hurt. Which is not bad because web applications are a dangerous idea anyway. Its nice that the problems of DHTML mostly limit them to slightly more interactive forms.

I'd agree with you there!

Now only if Adobe could get the implementation issues sorted out...

It's certainly good for content creation, but consumption of its end result often leaves something to be desired...

Flash is still the leading cause of slowdowns and crashes on my machine. Until they get the stability and speed issues solved on the desktop I won't be holding my breath for better support on tablets or phones.

Nothing I've ever read has made it sound like Flash is even pleasant on anything.

And amazing to develop. You can do the same things in Flash in a day that take you a week with any Ajax solution. If you can do it at all. For developers Ajax is a bag of hurt. Which is not bad because web applications are a dangerous idea anyway. Its nice that the problems of DHTML mostly limit them to slightly more interactive forms.

Yeah flash is amazing. Like when using Adobe's online store check out system and you start getting random errors that flash stopped communicating with the backend system, and tells you to reload your browser and try again. And then you do, and it fails again. Then when you finally get your CS5 Master Collection order through, you find out a few hours later that you have ordered 4 of them.

Or when your trying to file an SR on Oracle's Support Site which is 100% flash, and just when you click submit it tells you that it lost communication with the back end, and you have to reload the flash app and start over. Or after finally filing the SR you upload an incident package and comment on it and get the same "communications interruption" message and find out days later that the upload wasn't even completed (after confusing the tech).

Amazing. Amazing as to how much it sucks.

I prefer my iPhone/iPad without flash. It lets me leave my frustration on the desktop.

Adobe/Motorola may well be trying to head off potential bad reviews of the Xoom, but this could back-fire spectacularly for Adobe.

To wit, every tech blog worth its salt will review the Xoom twice: once when it first ships, and once when it first gets Flash. Those second reviews are going to shine a very big spotlight on the Flash performance and they will be able to reference the exact same device sans Flash. In other words, perfect conditions to determine exactly what the benefit/concessions of Flash are.

If Flash doesn't come out smelling of roses dipped in honey, it's game over for Adobe and the anti-Apple crowd.

every tech blog worth its salt will review the Xoom twice: once when it first ships, and once when it first gets Flash.

Don't count on it. (Adobe isn't.)

Regardless of whether Flash has actually improved lately (in no small part because of the company that everyone chides for pointing out its previously-terrible performance), how can the CEO of Adobe be proud of its place in history? Flash development has been so badly bungled over the past few years that it rightly deserves the (often exaggerated) negative comments and press articles attributed to it. And this case with the Xoom tablet only adds to the dogpile. This rollout is pretty much the exact opposite of the coordination and attention to detail that Apple sweats with their product releases. But do any of the competition ever learn?!?

I think it's weak that iOS doesn't support Flash. That said, I'm having trouble believing that Flash on Android tablets isn't going to suck. Helpful for video maybe, but other than that it seems like a bag of hurt waiting to happen.

I don't think it is weak. In fact, it is a bit of a blessing. Just a few years ago, there was a lot of Flash-only content, now much of what was Flash on the web is now available in HTML5. That's not just good for Apple, but good for everybody who wants longer battery life from their laptops and mobile devices, less crashes and better security.

That said, as you mention, supporting legacy Flash content on a touch tablet is going to bring little practical gain (Flash, after all, is mouse and pointer centric), so most games will be useless (assuming they would run fast/smooth enough), annoying Flash ads come back to life and Flash video will eat up your batteries faster than a native codec. But, this is potentially a significant marketing angle as the Apple haters get to rally around Flash support.

It will be interesting to see what the reviews are like. If Flash on the Mac platform is any indication, Adobe may produce something even buggier on an even more niche platform and not a lot in the way of future support and fixes. But, who knows? Adobe has been poked pretty good in the eye over Flash by Apple, so they may redouble their efforts to make something stable, fast, battery efficient and secure just to spite Apple?

I remember Flash and its effect on battery life, browser performance, and scrolling being a pretty big part of launch reviews in previous generations of Android devices.

Yet here's a blog that put together a 5 day test on several Android devices to test the battery life of Flash Player 10.1 and concluded: "Flash Player 10.1, in our initial tests, has negligible battery drain impact. Wi-Fi based use of Flash Player 10.1 in the native browser, with no other applications running, appears to use battery power consistent with that of non-Flash Player 10.1 content."http://workflowed.blogspot.com/2011/02/ ... droid.html

The battery drain of Flash has been blow out of proportion. 10.1 handles it quite well and now from what we've seen 10.2 is even better in handling video pushing it more to the GPU for better efficiency and lower battery drain.

This article has nothing to do with Apple, it is about a short delay in the release of the latest version of Flash on an (as yet unreleased) Android tablet, and yet the comments are full of Apple users talking about how awful Flash is.

I am sorry you do not have access to Flash on iOS devices, that does NOT mean Flash is terrible, in fact as I mentioned earlier it runs excellently on my Android phone.

If anything these comments further cement my belief that Apple's treatment of Flash, and Steve Jobs open letter was terrible miscalculation.

Just because it is not available to you does not mean it is bad, and speculating it will be bad on hardware that is unreleased (!) just seems like you are trying to make yourselves feel better about your choice of deficient locked down hardware...

every tech blog worth its salt will review the Xoom twice: once when it first ships, and once when it first gets Flash.

Don't count on it. (Adobe isn't.)

Regardless of whether Flash has actually improved lately (in no small part because of the company that everyone chides for pointing out its previously-terrible performance), how can the CEO of Adobe be proud of its place in history? Flash development has been so badly bungled over the past few years that it rightly deserves the (often exaggerated) negative comments and press articles attributed to it. And this case with the Xoom tablet only adds to the dogpile. This rollout is pretty much the exact opposite of the coordination and attention to detail that Apple sweats with their product releases. But do any of the competition ever learn?!?

Precisely... you'd never see Apple ship "the internet in your pocket" and leave out copy and paste... Or a multimedia phone without MMS, or their only camera-enabled phone without a flash.

Oh wait, they did, and made their users wait a year or more for those high-tech features.. got it

"... demonstrated the viability of Flash on handheld devices, challenging Apple's rejection of the plug-in on its own iOS platform"

Apple never said it wasn't possible. Apple said that their refusal to ship with Flash is that Adobe had shown no inclination to getting Flash up to their usability standards within a reasonable time frame. And now we're looking at versions that run, albeit slowly and resource-intensively, in 2010--a full three years later. I wish people would stop dumping on Apple and focus instead on Adobe who repeatedly promises the moon and delivers an underwhelming product. I've run Flash on my own Android-based phone and it's clunky and annoying, doing very little to challenge Apple's position.

This article has nothing to do with Apple, it is about a short delay in the release of the latest version of Flash on an (as yet unreleased) Android tablet, and yet the comments are full of Apple users talking about how awful Flash is.

I am sorry you do not have access to Flash on iOS devices, that does NOT mean Flash is terrible, in fact as I mentioned earlier it runs excellently on my Android phone.

If anything these comments further cement my belief that Apple's treatment of Flash, and Steve Jobs open letter was terrible miscalculation.

Just because it is not available to you due to your choice in hardware does not mean it is bad, and speculating it will be bad on hardware that is unreleased (!) just seems like you are trying to make yourselves feel better about your choice of deficient locked down hardware...

That's all well and good, but Flash is a piece a shit. It's always been a piece of shit. It was a great option and could do some neat things back when there was no alternative method for doing those things, but there are alternative methods aplenty now, so it's time to let it go. And that has nothing to do with Apple or Android or Windows or any other source of emotional well-being for angry nerds.

Duh! Flash works on iPads and iPhones. Always has. Just expect it to drain the battery or occasionally freeze or slow down. If you really require Flash get Android. How much of a battery drain, freeze or slow down remains to be seen.

Regardless of desktop platform, I really hate websites that are created in Flash because you have to wait for them to load. I hate ads and popups and close them before they even complete loading. I do occasionally, have to view tutorials that use the .swf format, but there are various apps that will display them and on a desktop machine, battery drain is not a problem.

If you were going to get an Android tablet, no one should convince you otherwise. Go with your convictions, but since the fronts of all Android tablets look like Apple iPads, please put a giant Motorola, H-P, Samsung, Viewsonic, Sony, Lenovo, or Android sticker on the back so that we know you are using Honeycomb with Flash. Beta-testers, unite!

That said, as you mention, supporting legacy Flash content on a touch tablet is going to bring little practical gain (Flash, after all, is mouse and pointer centric), so most games will be useless (assuming they would run fast/smooth enough), annoying Flash ads come back to life and Flash video will eat up your batteries faster than a native codec. But, this is potentially a significant marketing angle as the Apple haters get to rally around Flash support.

Flash Player 10.1 registers touch as mouse clicks and with the exception of rollovers, legacy Flash content plays fine and is generally no different than legacy HTML content. The lack of keyboard for some Flash games that use the arrow keys for controls are a bigger deal than multitouch.

Flash video runs the same codec as H.264 as HTML5 runs on all mobile browsers, so it's just a matter of whether the video runs inside the browser or inside a Flash container. It's been slow in the past, but sites that have benchmarked it have found in some cases 10.2 to be faster & more efficient than HTML5 video.

Also as already mentioned ad aren't an issue if you set Flash to the "On Demand" setting, so that only items you click on activate. As more browsers become HTML5 capable, we are likely to see interactive HTML5 ads that you can't disable for iOS users.